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Trivia: Musical Terms

Subject : trivia
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. The interval between two notes. Three whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.






2. To shift to another key.






3. In sheet music - an instruction to repeat the beginning of the piece before stopping on the final chord.






4. A musical theme given to a particular idea or main character of an opera.






5. Two or more voices or instruments playing the same note simultaneously.






6. A combination of two or more staves on which all the notes are vertically aligned and performed simultaneously in differing registers and instruments.






7. Tone color - quality of sound that distinguishes one verse or instrument to another. It is determined by the harmonies of sound.






8. A composition written for nine instruments.






9. One or more vocalists performing without an accompaniment.






10. A symbol indicating the note is to be raised by one semitone.






11. The raising and lowering a pitch of an instrument to produce the correct tone of a note.






12. The tonal characteristics determined by the relationship of the notes to the tone.






13. A successive transposition and repetition of a phrase at different pitches.






14. The expression the performer brings when playing his instrument.






15. Short movement or interlude connecting the main parts of the composition.






16. Group of singers in a chorus.






17. A 19th century square dance written for 4 couples.






18. Rapid alternation between notes that are a half tone or whole tone apart.






19. Closing section of a movement.






20. Music written for chorus and orchestra. Most often religious in nature.






21. The distance in pitch between two notes.






22. Pertains to tone or tones.






23. Two or three melodic lines played at the same time.






24. The study of forms - history - science - and methods of music.






25. Short movement or interlude connecting the main parts of the composition.






26. Refers to any great composer - conductor - or teacher of music.






27. A repeated phrase.






28. A song of praise and glorification. Most often to honor God.






29. The element of music pertaining to time - played as a grouping of notes into accented and unaccented beats.






30. A composition whose style is simple and idyllic; suggestive of rural scenes.






31. The frequency of a note determining how high or low it sounds.






32. A dirge - hymn - or musical service for the repose of the dead.






33. The period of music history which dates from the mid 1800's and lasted about sixty years. There was a strong regard for order and balance.






34. A musical scale having five notes.For example: the five black keys of a keyboard make up a pentatonic scale.






35. Written for 2 to 10 solo parts featuring one instrument to a part. Each part bears the same importance.






36. The playing or singing the upper half of the vocal range. Also the highest voice in choral singing.






37. Quick repetition of the same note or the rapid alternation between two notes.






38. A repeating phrase that is played at the end of each verse in the song.






39. Harsh - discordant - and lack of harmony. Also a chord that sounds incomplete until it resolves itself on a harmonious chord.






40. The unit of musical rhythm.






41. Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played grandly.






42. Rapid alternation between notes that are a half tone or whole tone apart.






43. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






44. Music written to be sung or played in unison.






45. A period in history during the 18th and early 19th centuries where the focus shifted from the neoclassical style to an emotional - expressive - and imaginative style.






46. A scale consisting of only whole-tone notes. Such a scale consists of only 6 notes.






47. A 17th century dance written in Quadruple time - always beginning on the third beat of the measure.






48. A hymn sung by the choir and congregation often in unison.






49. Slow and stately dance music written in triple time.






50. Initially an improvised cadence by a soloist; later becoming an elaborate and written out passage in an aria or concerto - featuring the skills of an instrumentalist or vocalist.